The Intimidator: Wheelchair racing icon wins ninth title

Decked out like Darth Vader, the Langley native overwhelmed the field yet again

Kelly Smith is the first place male finisher in the wheelchair division.

Photograph by: Wayne Leidenfrost
, PNG

Wheelchair racing icon Kelly Smith has won the men’s open division of The Vancouver Sun Run 10K so often that the story’s no longer about that day’s pushing.

No, it’s all about what this 46-year-old paraplegic thrill-seeker is up to now.

How about free diving and free dive scooter racing?

Actually, we’ll get to his latest adventure in a minute because Smith did provide a talking point in his 27-minute, four-second ramble through the streets of Vancouver Sunday morning by doing it while wearing a Darth Vader-like helmet, chest armour and spike-adorned shoulder pads.

"Just trying to intimidate people — a few props, that’s all I need," said a grinning Smith after winning for the ninth time since 1998.

"Nah, just having some fun. This [outfit] is from the [2010] Paralympics opening ceremonies. I decided to put it on display again in respect to the lady who did all the costumes and all the good work she did. It gets a lot of attention."

Simon Harrington of Courtenay was second in 29:29 and Masashi Shinoda of Vancouver, who was using the day as a fundraiser for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, was third in 39:28.

James Hustvedt of North Vancouver won the men’s quad division, in a time of 43:22.

Multiple-time Paralympic track medallist Michelle Stilwell of Nanoose Bay recorded a time of 36:33 as the lone female in the quad division, well off her 34:25 of last year, while Djami Diallo of North Vancouver finished in 1:12:01 as the lone racer in the women’s open division.

"Shouldn’t go out the night before," said a smiling Stilwell, who attended a wedding Saturday night. "This is a build for London I’m on right now and the 10K and half marathons are just extra training for me. My focus is the track right now."

Smith, an air traffic controller from Langley and the 2004 Paralympic silver medallist in the marathon, did his fastest Sun Run in 2003 with a time of 20:54. This year’s race, he said, was just a "cruise through the park, a lot of smiles and laughs."

Smith, who skipped last year’s Sun Run, said Sunday’s effort was only about his third time in his racing chair in three years. He’s been struggling with shoulder and arm ailments, including a bad right elbow that never fully healed after he broke it in two places in a fall from a downhill mountain bike while roaring down a trail at the Haleakala Crater in Maui in late 2007.

"Every time I go back to hard training I just aggravate it. I get constant fluid and swelling in the elbow. That one really bit me in the butt. As my mom said, ‘One of these days, you’re going to regret doing these stupid things.’"

Which brings us to free diving, something he was turned on to by his fiance, Jill Yoneda, a Canadian national team member.

"It’s real easy on my elbows," he says with another big grin. "It’s just all about holding your breath and going down as deep and as far as you can.

"I’ve been doing it now for two years with her. In a couple of weeks we’re leaving for three weeks in the Cayman Islands to do some competitions."

Those competitions include the newest discipline in free diving: Formula 3 scooter racing. Equipped with a lightweight, aluminum propulsion system strapped between their legs, competitors race through gates stationed 20 to 60 feet below the surface, all on a single breath.

"It’s pretty cool. I’m up to a six-and-a-half minute breathhold," says Smith. "These lungs have to come to a few good uses.

"It changes the whole world of snorkelling. You’re able to be comfortably down for a period of time. And then the competitive side of it is pretty neat, too. To see how deep you can go or how long you can hold your breath before you black out.

"I’ve definitely pushed the limits and I’ve seen [blackouts], but I’ve never blacked out. I’ve come to the edge of it. That’s part of the sport. Like any sport, you’ve got to know what that edge is."

For static breathholds, Smith says his history as a wheelchair marathoner means he has "good capacity for uptake of oxygen." Plus, in not having as much muscle mass in his lower limbs as able-bodied divers, he benefits from economy of movement.

"But as far as distance stuff, I’m not going to be very competitive because I can’t kick like everybody else."

gkingston@vancouversun.com

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